Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1887-07-29
BUTLER COUNTY.
Her Gas, Coal and Oil.

BU LEX COU II Y.
Her Gas, Coal and Oil.
More than 90 years ago petroleum
was found in the Oil fields of Venango
county, which joins Butler county on
the north, and during the oil excite
ment which followed and extended to
Butler county, gas was found in
great abundance, but attracted little
attention till within the last few
years. The producers however have
been using it for running their pump
ing wells for at least II or Is years
in the counties of Venango and But
Ter, and for several years farmers have
used it for heating and light. The
Carbon Black works, located q few
miles south of Butler, have been
making lamp black for 10 or IL years
and about five years ago the citizens
of Butler obtained a charter and
formed gas company, furnishing for
the people the heat and light which
ever since has taken the place of coal
and artificial gas, at less than one
third the cost for the amount Of heat
produced, dispensing with smoke and
ashes, proving to be one of the great
est discoveries of the age, opening
within the last 3 or years new era
in the history OF petOrlium. The
cEeapness of this product as q fuel
gives new impetus to manufacturing
in this part of the country because no
section without this product can in
any way compete with a county
whose every hill abounds with this
substance, which when brought to
the surface can be utilized at q mere
nominal cost. The use of gas is no
new experiment in the Butler oil
field; it has been tried and found TO
far exceed anything heretofore discoy-
cred for heating furnaces and running
machinery, and its continuing for at
least l 5 years shows the durability of
it. The pressure in this region is so
great and the quality SO good that it
seems to be almost inexhaustable and
while there are perhaps many prob
lens with regard to it yet unsolved
by the scientific world yet enough is
already known to show its incalcula-
ble value to a manufacturing commu-
nifty.
Closely allied with this subject is
that of the
Which are it would seem but an ex-
tension of the vast coal fields at and
around Pittsburg. Though the strata
seems more broken and scarcely equal
in quality, yet it is of the same for
nation, good quality of bituminous
coal. This belt extends northwest
ardly from the Pittsburg region
through the southern part of Butler,
embracing the most if not the whole
width of the county, extending clear
through to Mercer county, with sur
face and lower veins varying from
one foot to 6 or 7 feet in thickness of
good marketable coal as free perhaps
from sulphur and other deleterious
substances as most other bitnminous
coal mines of our country. Many
mines have been opened throughout
the county Of Butler and the majority
of them are in working order. In
aud arouud Coaltown and billiards,
on the north, large slopes and shafts
have been put in working order and
this product is shipped to other mar
kets in the north and west But of
late years the local coal trade Of this
county has been some hat deteriorat-
ed by the use of natural gas, produced
to such an extent as to render any
other fuel for home consumption OF
less value. With these great sources
of heat and light perhaps no section
in our country offers the same induce
ments for the cheap running of heavy
machinery, and at mere nominal
cost, as does the town Of Butler and
vicinity.
We have substances here sufficient
to feed furnaces and forges for centu-
ries to come. The s. & A. r. r.
with it's branches to Hiliiard and
Coaltown makes the transportation oi
coal to its junction with ss.the''ssother
roads at Butler easy, and if one oil
these products fail to supply our man.
ufacturing establishments We have the
other in great abundance which in our
opinion insures for Butler q better
outlook than other localities less for.
tunate in their natural resources, and
the one great barrier, viz: the expense
to manufacturers in creating motive
power to very great extent taken
away.
PETROLEUM,
The oil production OF Butler coun.
ty, while not as large as some other
sections, stands nevertheless among
the large and productive fields of oul
country. Oil was discovered in and
around Petrolia, Greece City and
Millerstown several years ago, o
good quality at an average depth ant
while the wells in this county may
not be as large as rule as in some
other territory, they are reputed tc
hold out much longer than in most o
the other oil regions. Some of th'
wells have been pumping for l6 years
and still said to be paying. Many o
the small wells that produced but lit
tie 9 or 10 years ago have kept up t.
nearly the same standard till the pre-